Approximately 1.1 million strokes occur in Europe each year1.
About 25% of stroke survivors will go on to have another stroke within five years2.
Stroke is the second most common cause of death in the European Union (EU) and a leading cause of adult disability3.
The financial burden of stroke is expected to increase from €60 billion in 2027 to €80 billion in 20304.
But there’s good news: more than 80% of strokes can be prevented5.
Ensuring brain health and preventing stroke is the responsibility of all levels of society. We need to that target the risk factors that are greatest risk factors for stroke such as smoking and healthy lifestyle, which may require changes to the law, for example increasing taxes, as well improving the quality and labelling of food.
In addition, we need to ensure that people know more about stroke risk factors. Understanding stroke risk factors allows us to act to keep our brains healthy. Changing what we can should help protect our brains and reduce the chance of having a stroke.
References
- Valery L Feigin et al. Global, regional, and national burden of stroke and its risk factors, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019, The Lancet Neurology, 2020. 19(10), 819–836. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1474-4422(21)00252-0
- Valery L Feigin, Mayowa O Owolabi, Foad Abd-Allah, Rufus O Akinyemi, Natalia V Bhattacharjee, Michael Brainin, et al. Pragmatic Solutions to Reduce the Global Burden of Stroke: A World Stroke Organization–Lancet Neurology Commission. The Lancet Neurology. 2023. 22(12). https://doi.org/10.1016/S1474-4422(23)00277-6
- Hans-Christoph Diener, Graeme J. Hankey. Primary and Secondary Prevention of Ischemic Stroke and Cerebral Hemorrhage. Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 2020. 75(15):1804–18. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacc.2019.12.072
- Ramon Luengo-Fernandez, Paolo Candio, Mara Violato, Jose Leal. At what cost. Stroke Alliance for Europe / University of Oxford. 2020. https://www.safestroke.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/03.-At_What_Cost_EIOS_Full_Report.pdf
- Martin J O’Donnell, Siu Lim Chin, Sumathy Rangarajan, Denis Xavier, Lisheng Liu, Hongye Zhang, Purnima Rao-Melacini, et al. Global and Regional Effects of Potentially Modifiable Risk Factors Associated with Acute Stroke in 32 Countries (INTERSTROKE): A Case-Control Study. Lancet. 2016. 388(10046):761–75. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(16)30506-2
STROKE RISKS
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